Electrical apparatus for illuminating and decorating christmas trees and similar uses



May 22, 1923. 1,456,091

J. H. BETTS ELECTRICAL APPARATUS FOR ILLUMINATING AND DECORATINGCHRISTMAS TREES AND SIMILAR USES Filed Feb. 12 1919 Patented May 22,1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFlCE.

JAMES H. BETTS, F BRIGHTWATERS, NEW YORK.

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS FOR ILLUMINATING AND DECORATING CHRISTMAS TREES ANDSIMILAR USES.

Application filed February 12, 1919. Serial No. 276,476.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I. James H. Burrs, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Brightwaters, county of Suffolk, and

State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inElectrical Ap paratus for Illuminating and Decorating Christmas Treesand Similar Uses, of which the following is a specification, referencebeinglhad to the accompanying drawings.

eretofore small lamps, usually arranged in series of eight, have beenutilized for the lighting of Christmas trees and similar uses. Whilethese are a great improvement 16 over the former use of candles, inthat, among other things, they are much safer and more cleanly, yetsince in practically every case the usual house current was utilizedwithout being transformed, there has always been a serious fire riskinvolved because of the'high voltage and possible faulty insulation andmany disastrous fires have resulted. The small lamps used for thispurpose, usually 12-14 volts, are very fragile, and of short life owingto this usual voltage, as the use of more lower voltage lamps in series,as 16 across 110 volts, is more objectionable still because failure ofone puts allout, and it is very difficult to identify the failed one ina series. This danger is well recognized and in some instances hasheretofore been avoided by the employment of a transformer to reduce thevoltage of the current, ,but this necessitated the employment of anelectrician or one having adequate skill not only to do the requisitemechanical work but also select from the general market the properelements to constitute a completely safe system, and this, owing to thenecessary attendant expense, has for ordinary domestic use usually beenprohibitive as a permanent installation is not desired. Under myinvention I obviate all the ob jections above sug ested and supply apropcrly assembled, sa e apparatus embody ng in a compact, attractiveand simple manner all the desired elements at a cost' that adapts it toeven unimportant domestic use, and in additionthereto it embodies aflasher whereb twinkling of the lamps canbe secured, i desired; and theparts are so constructed and arranged that t e lam arein multiple arc,not in series, thus avoi ing the annoying "incident that item lamp isburned out or removed for any reason the entire series is useless.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view, part1 in section, of my entiresystem as assemble ready for operation; Figure 2 is a detail.

1, 1, represent the main line wires, 2 a casing, preferably but notnecessarily of non-conducting material, provided with an insulatingupper or plug piece 3 and a lower piece 1, both preferably of porcelain.5 is the usual lamp socket having the metallic lining 33. 6 is the usualthreaded exterior contact for the plug, 7 is the central contact for theplug, 8 and 9 are wires for the plugcontacts, 10 and 11 are contacts inthe insulation 3 connected to 7 and 6 by the wires 30 and 82respectively. 12 is a wire leading from contact 10 to contact 13, which,in this instance, is located in the lower insulation 4. From the contact13 a small resistance heating wire 14 extends to a resistance 15, which,when heated, closes the circuit at 16, whereupon the current passesthrough a metallic connection 17 and wire 18 through key 26 and wire 31to primary winding 21 of transformer 19. 20 is a wire connecting contact11 with the other terminal of winding 21. 22 and 25 are wires whichconduct the transformed current to the lamps. As stated, they arearranged in multiple are as shown, and not in series. 23 is the outgoingwire extending from lamp to lamp and 24 the return wire likewiseextending from lamp to lamp, both in a manner well understood. Thereturn wire 24.- connects with wire 25, which, as shown, takes thesecondary current back to the coil 3%. 26 is a key which controls theentire system. The shell 2 ma be connected to the upper and lower insuations 3 and 4 in any desired manner. I have shown the connectionbetween the shell and the upper insulation 3 as small metallic anglepieces 27 and the connection between the shell and the lower insulation1 by an inwardly pressed annular rib 28. 29 represents miniaturedecorative low voltage lamps.

In operation, line current is passed through the primary circuit asfollows: fromupper line wire 1 through wire 8, contact 7, wire 30,contact 10, wire 12, contact 13, wire 14, resistance 15, wire 18, key26, wire-31, primary winding 21, wire 20, contact 11, wire 32, threadedplugcontact 6, threaded socket contact 33, and wire 9 to lower line wire1.

The flow of current through resistance 15 heats the. bar carrying thelatter, and resulting thermal expansion warps said bar, bringingcontacts 16 and 13 together and shunting the greater part of the currentthrough conducting bar 17, whence it passes by adjustment of contact 13,the latter being made accessible from the outside for that purpose. vTheperiodic interruption or variation of the secondary circuit resultingfrom the relative movement of contacts 16 and 13 in the primary circuitcauses a twinkling of lamps 29, which if not desired, may be preventedby adjusting contact 13 into permanent contact with 16.

The secondary winding 34 supplies current towires 22 and 25, and thenceto lamps 29 in parallel, thereby making each lamp independent andpermittin the use of durable low voltage lamps 0 various designs notattainable in ordinary 12-14 volt lamgs, because of the excessit e heatdeveloped y the latter.

It will be articularly noted that the construction and arrangement ofthe parts as illustrated and described provide a remarkably compact,attractive, safe and relatively inexpensive apparatus for the purpose 7stated; that the flashing or twinkling of the lamps greatly enhances theattractiveness of such apparatus and may be used or not as desired, andthat since the lamps are arranged in multiple arc and not in series, aninjury I of leads connected to said secondary winding and extendingoutside said casing, and a plurality of low voltage miniature decorativelamps connected in parallel across said leads.

2. A combined transformer and interrupting device, comprising a plugadapted for insertion in a standard lamp socket in a lighting circuit,said plug having the usual contacts, a casing carried by said plug, atransformer having a line voltage primary and a low voltage secondarywinding, said primary winding being connected to the plug contacts, aflasher comprising a resistance heater in one of said primary windingconnections, a shunt connection around said heater having therein a pairof relatively movable contacts, an expansion member actuated by saidheater to close said relatively movable contacts when current passesthrough said. heater, and to open said contacts when the current throughsaid heater is interrupted, said transformer and said flasher beinglocated within said casing and a pair of service leads from said casingconnected with said secondary winding.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JAMES a. BETTS.

